MANCHESTER Velodrome's world-class track is to be relaid with wood from deepest Russia.

The track will be ripped up next week and replaced with timber from Siberian pine forests at a cost of £420,000.

And cycling enthusiasts could snap up a special memento with plans to sell off pieces of the old surface, including the finishing line.

"The new timber comes from forests in the far north of Siberia, where the trees grow very slowly," said buildings maintenance manager Paul Hardy.

"This means they are very straight and have fewer knots - and that smoothness creates a faster track.

"The timber is being machined down into 40mm pieces at a factory in Germany. It has been force-dried in pressurised kilns, so it only contains about 12 per cent of its original moisture. It will be shipped to the UK next week and fitted by a team of 12 specialist joiners."

Regarded as one of the world's finest and fastest circuits, more than half a million cyclists have used it since the National Cycling Centre opened at Sportcity in 1994.

World and Olympic champions including Chris Boardman, Victoria Pendleton and Chris Hoy have trained at the venue which has hosted two world championships, the Commonwealth Games and host of world record attempts.

Mementos

If plans to sell mementos are approved by Velodrome bosses, an unmarked piece of wood will cost £10, pieces marked with the different cycling lines - known as sprinters, stayers and datum lines - will go for £15, while pieces marked with the finishing line are expected to fetch £30.

The money could be used to commission a piece of public art at the centre.

Mr Hardy said: "It's a nice idea and we've had interest from about 30 people.

"It has a great history. My personal highlights would be Chris Boardman's attempts on the hour record, the other various world record attempts, the world championships and of course the Commonwealth Games."

Boardman, who won the individual pursuit gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, broke the hour record three times in Manchester.

Olympic gold and silver medallist Hoy trained there before his recent attempt on the world kilometre time trial record in Bolivia.

Pendleton, from Wythenshawe, trained there before her flawless performance at the world track championships in Spain in April, where she won three gold medals.

The Velodrome, which is also open to the general public, will reopen in August.

The cost of replacing the track will be met by Manchester Council, Sport England and the British Cycling Federation.

Watch the track replaced on the webcam at www.manchestervelodrome .com/News/webcam